Let's start with a motown cover - a cover of the great motown song of all time, as it happens. Take it away, Erkut Taçkın!

But that's not the real stuff quite yet. Let's turn again to Edip Akbayram, who you'll remember from the last post:

Let's bring in Alpay:

And heck - why not some from the jazzier side of things?

Classic.

But we've saved the best for last. Erkin Koray. The father of Turkish rock. The man invented electric versions of all the traditional string instruments. You know the drill - it's like the kids in every country we've toured so far. Starting out late 50s, early 60s by playing covers of imports, later turning to original material. And get a heavier and heavier sound going.

Dig it.

Also he got straight up stabbed on the street one time. Reactionaries gonna hate, yo.

And what is his masterpiece, you ask?
Elektronik Türküler [electronic ballads]
It's everything you'd want in world psychedelia. Blending the psych style with some solid homegrown fundamentals.

And the capstone? Türkü. A ballad. A sublime combination of meandering hippie poetry and dirty fuzz. That beautiful Turkish oboe grooving over the baseline.

This song is probably one of the most important in bringing the Man down on top of him (well, that and Beautiful Korea). It is called 잔디 [chandi/jandi - grass]. And no, that does not mean the lawn kind of grass.

Hit it.
Let's go back. Waaaay back. Where'd the kid get his start, I shall pretend you asked? Why, in dives and bases, with 'add 4' backing him, of course.

Hit the time warp. Ten years on.

That song [과엽전들미인 - beautiful woman] is the opener from his 1974 album (with his band, Yeop Jeons). The album was actually re-recorded; not for any political or social content, but because the label wanted something 'heavier'; both versions are solid, although I do prefer the first (incidental to its being the artists' original work), whence this track comes.

Also from that album - 긴긴 밤 [a long, long night]:

Groovy little psych-pop.

Now, let us return to someone I mentioned in my earlier Korea post, long, long ago. Remember the name 김정미? Kim Jeung-mi? I said that ol' Shin spent his time with a rotating cast of pretty young girls (nah, don't look at him like that - it was pretty on the level, and they were all talented). The best was Ms Kim. She recorded several albums, most of which (in the early 70s) were connected in some way with Shin Jung-hyeon himself.

So, the title and opening track from her 1973 album 바람 [baram - wind]:

And then this!

That still's not the album art, but it is both gorgeous and priceless.

Ah, yes. Track down her albums, if you like (there are five, from the era). Very worth it. A lot of it's well folkier, hence why I skipped over it here, but it's very interesting, and what a voice.

And, to follow, a couple tracks down the listing, with 너를 사랑하네 - I love you:

And for a finale - an adieu for now yet again, to Shin and his art; woman in the mist. This is the light version:

Great, right? But oh, child, listen well. I posted the extended blissed out psychedelic jam version before, but now I shall post it AGAIN because it is AWESOME. Sublimely perfect in uncountable ways. This version is mixed a little differently; the organ is a little buried and the cymbals practically lost, but it does make the guitar edge out a little clearer... No. Whatever. Listen.

After this I'll be just about out of the A material, so far as Asia's concerned; we've got just the one more stop to make. Where, you ask (I say 'you', since I persist in pretending I have fellow travellers )?

Vietnam.

Not too much to add to what's been said for Cambodia, so far as set and setting are concerned. Well, almost nobody died, in comparison. But the destruction of info and recordings was actually rather more thorough, after Saigon fell down history's gutter. The 'Southeast Asian Problem' looms again; I had to pick through so, so many shitty ballads to find anything interesting. You're welcome. There's one decent compilation CD out these days (and even they had trouble stretching it to a full CD's worth). It's a lot of work, to find a song, find something about it, and then find it on youtube... (okay, not a lot, but, y'know). Some of the uploads I've found are down in the triple digits or lower on views; that's gotta be some hipster cred, eh?

Let's start it off with some better known folks - CBC band (I am obligated to mention as a Canadian I find that name hilarious). They got a tip to flee the place, moved to Texas, and more or less carried on there. Anyway - here's a muddy low-fi recording - but at least it's in English!:

And here is a... television appearance? I guess? The song's con tim và nước mắt [heart and tears].

Here is a cheerful little number. Ngày sau sẽ ra sao [what happens next?]. S'about a girl thinking about her man going off to a (pointless) war. Sung by Hoàng Oanh, who also recorded many cruddy ballads. This is the least cruddy! But no, actually I like it.

Here's Carol Kim, singing about a hair clip (cái trâm em cài) her lover made from shrapnel and sent from the trenches. What a lovely gift.

Not to be confused with Connie Kim (as the aforementioned compilation CD actually manages to do!). Here, singing about how 30 years of civil war being where hopes and dreams go to die (nỗi buồn con gái - a girl's sorrow). With soul.

Also singing about being 17 (Tuổi 17):

And about how if you only get one chance together, you'd better make it good enough to last forever. Đêm huyền diệu - magic night.

That song was originally recorded in English; couldn't find that version (as we get less obscure, we do unfortunately run the risk of encountering stuff that's occasionally copyright policed). Meh. November are Swedish but they spent a fair amount of time over in the UK as well. One of their first shows was opening a Fleetwood Mac show on November 1st, 1969. So, without any better ideas, that became the band name... Psych to hard rock to blues, it's all in there. They recorded three studio albums and one live album, and broke up in 1972.

So!

Åttonde [eighth] from the debut album En Ny Tid Är Här [a new time is here, to translate very literally].

Aaaand, round it out for now with this one, I guess. Lek att du är barn igen [play like you're kids again]. Dat flute.

Having had the work in question residing again at the top of my mind, as of late; having posted it in the 'animated movie' thread...

Planete Sauvage, all y'all. You know that shit's the good shit. The music was by Alain Goraguer. If you recognize that name at all it may be in cognisance of his working with Serge Gainsbourg, who would easily warrant a post or two in this thread in his own right. In turns thick and ethereal and brash and seductive and hypnotic. Cut in!